We have been eagerly awaiting the arrival of the couta down here on the South Coast, and by all accounts from the reports of great fish coming out up the North Coast and in Durbs, this is going to be a bumper season!
! We just missed out on some couta at The Natal Champs at Pennington 2 weeks ago - a mixture of bad weather and sharks, and our 3rd place came courtesy of a nice wahoo and some YFT.
With all the comps coming up in the next few weeks my mate Kurt and I decided to make a practice trip in search of some couta. This week there have already been reports of good fish in the 15-20kg class coming out off Hibberdene, and ones of 26kg and 38kg came out in the area on Tue/Wed. With promising weather forecast for yesterday we decided to tackle up with our 10kg rigs and get some practice for our upcoming comps. The target area was just north of the Umzimkulu River off Umtentweni where there is ample reef and structure plus good livebait showings.
The weather greeted us at the Shelly Beach Ski Boat club with a gentle NE wind and a very short Easterly swell which although not big was jacking up on the sandbank and also creating a dumping shorebreak which could get ugly at times. 3 boats before us had close calls with an outside wave that jacked up on the bank. Our launch went well, Neptune gave us a clear flat after a short set of waves and we were out safely. There was a nasty chop on the inside and we took our time running the 10km to our destination.
Upon arrival we noted the clean greenish water at 24.5deg. We set up Sabiki rigs and cruised the area for bait. There were plenty of small redeyes (too small to pin) and sand soldiers (also small) and 30 minutes flew by as we scratched for decent baits. Eventually we came right in 30m of water on a small showing that delivered some big redeyes and a lone mozzie. We decided to try one more drift over the same mark to try snag a few more mozzies. This proved to be a great decision as our next down resulted in 5 fat mackies on the sabiki's! perfect bait and time to start fishing....
We pinned two macks and let them out on the surface - one 10m behind the boat and the other 25m back. The other two were downrigged - mine on my special IGFA livebait trace and an 8oz on the bottom and Kurt's on a 4oz a way back behind the boat. We started putting around the great structure in the area. All was quiet for the first hour and then at 9:10am my deep rigged mack screamed off.... fish on!
The fish smoked off 50m before turning and running straight back under the boat and took another 150m in the other direction. A bit of quick maneuvering and lines up kept the fish clear and under tension. I put a bit of pressure on the fish to test it's weight and immediately felt that this was not a fish to force! Heavy and athletic, this fish made repeated long runs. I must say at least I had peace of mind knowing that the 2 single hooks had found purchase in the fish's mouth. The fish started to move steadily closer before it's second strong run - all the time our fears turned to the taxman who is always close by for an easy meal.
The fish moved in and made 2 more short runs before we got the numberplate - a solid looking couta just metres away from gaffing range. The leader moved through the guides six times before we finally got a chance to gaff the fish! Kurt eventually leaning far over the gunnel with the long gaff and sticking it in the nape of the neck only to realise that it was too heavy to lift, so I quickly put the second gaff into the fish and we lifted it on deck. Immediately our feeling was that this fish was around the 20kg mark - long and fit and in perfect condition. After a few snaps we put the fish in the hatch and it only just made it into the hatch of the Kozi Cat 186 - a proper CROC!
We put our baits back in and started moving around the area again, I dropped my other livebait down on my second rod and an 8oz back to the bottom and it was only 5 minutes before the reel screamed off again. The fish made one fast run, turned and then came off - not meant to be! I then pinned a dead bonnie and downrigged it again looking for another pull. 20 minutes went by before the same rod went away, unfortunately the fight indicated a different model and after 5 min I brought a fiesty hammerhead to the boat.
After that things became quiet, we switched over to dead mackerel and a bonnie but no further pulls. We called lines up just as the wind started to pick up. The run home was quick as our discussion was dominated by estimating the weight of the Croc. We took the fish to the club scales and Ballie's first comment was "Nice fish about 18kg" which had us now doubting our initial estimates! the debate raged until the scale was zeroed and the fish hooked onto the tail loop....... 26,4kg and my new personal best couta!
What a great feeling - we had a game plan and we stuck to it with great results.
Here's a few pics of the Croc:
